Thursday, March 7, 2013

It’s not quite spring yet, but this young man’s fancy has
already turned to love. No, not that kind; I’m talking about my love for this
ultra-easy, and gorgeously colored, cream of asparagus soup recipe. For me, asparagus is one of those rare vegetables that
shines brightest when enjoyed in soup form.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the
fresh spears, and have posted many recipes featuring them, but for pure
asparagus goodness, you just can’t beat a perfectly made bowl of soup. There are no tricks or secret techniques here; just make
sure your onions are fully cooked before adding the asparagus, and other than
not over-cooking it, there’s not a lot that can go wrong.

Testing the
vegetable’s doneness by pressing them against the side of the pot should
eliminate any guesswork, but if unsure, err on the side of slightly under vs.
slightly over cooked. The other decision you’ll have to make is whether to strain
or not. I recommend it, but totally understand if you don’t. The soup is great as
is, but straining out the woodier fibers does give it a finer, more velvety texture.

Of course, the float of Parmesan and lemon cream on top is
optional also, but pretend it isn’t. It adds a great visual element, and adds a little extra richness to the soup’s lean, green
goodness. I hope you fall in love with this soup soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 1/2 quarts of soup:

2 tbsp butter 1 diced onion

2 pounds asparagus

salt to taste

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

cayenne to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg (I forgot to mention in video, but just add
with other spices!)

I cannot remember the last video you posted I did not enjoy. Your videos are so delicious/achievable/enjoyable.

Thanks so much for your effort. Wish you were on Food Network as opposed to a hack like Sandra Lee or a hypocrite like Paula Deen (teaches and promotes unhealthy oily food for over a year and half while hiding the fact that she has diabetes and cannot eat any of the recipes she is promoting).

Been a fan for years. Many thanks. As a taste note... have you ever tried using white pepper instead of black? I fell i love with this soup while working in Costa Rica for a few months last year and that's how they serve it there. It's typically sprinkled on top and pushes the dish into a whole different category of soup/OMG.

Thanks Jeff! Chef John is away on a well deserved vacation, so I'll be covering some of the questions for the time being. White pepper is definitely an acquired taste. You'll find it that you would need to use a considerably smaller amount of white pepper than you would black pepper. Glad you have been a fan for years!

I completely love your recipes! The asparagus soup was simply fantastic. I can only find the small skinny asparaguses but it worked! I was attempting to make a veggierian soup and so I subbed the butter with olive oil. It still worked so.

Just made this while the GF was making some cheesy english muffin crab melts she found on pintrest. Turned out awesome! They really complimented one another and it was totally unintentional. So do you (Chef John or anyone who has made this) have any suggestions on what to use to fortify or add some substance to this. Some chunks of something in this would be great. The only thing i can think of is maybe mushrooms or just chunks of half stale french bread.

Chef John, thank you for your hard work - I basically learned to cook by watching your videos. Regarding the asparagus soup, I have a French cuisine book where they have a similar recipe. They also recommend to put some cooked CRAB MEAT in the middle for garnishing. Just an idea. Maybe expensive, but worth it for an extra special occasion?

I accidentally overcooked a bunch of asparagus on new years--I was intending to use it as a fondue dipper. I was looking at this sad, wilty grey-green mess, and thought maybe I could make soup out of it. So I followed your recipe, and just closed my eyes during your directions not to overcook the asparagus. Despite my asparagus mistake, this soup was insanely delicious. I cannot wait to make this again and actually do it right. Thanks for teaching me how to cook!

I like your blog but disagree that you need to put chicken broth or even vegetable broth in this soup. When I make my version I save the top 1/3 of the asparagus and peel them. I also blanch them saving the water from that as the vegetable stock. I then use those asparagus tips to put in the soup at the end. The remaining part of the asparagus I shred using a food processor cooking that in the reserved blanching liquid adding onions garlic etc. Then I further puree it and strain it adding butter and cream. I also make garlic croutons as a garnish for the soup.this way it's a richer asparagus flavor versus having the chicken broth mssking the true flavor of the asparagus.